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DOCUMENTS  DEPT, 
SAN  FRANCISCO 
Pi-    3LIC   LI3RARY 


5/S 


San  Francisco  Public  Library 


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REFERENCE  BOOK 

Not  to  be  taken  from  the  library 


JUN  3  01978        Hi  il  in  in  ! 


JUN  3 0  1978        I!  I  Mil      niTii 
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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

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http://archive.org/details/10sanfrancirede196973sanf 


The  Decade 

Past 

And  The 

Decade 

To  Come 


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San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency 


Chairman 
Walter  F.  Kaplan 


Vice  Chairman 
Francis  J.  Solvin 


Michael  J.  Driscoll  Stanley  E.  Jensen 


Joe  Mosle 


From  the  Members  of  the  San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency 


"He's  changed  the  City,  perhaps  as  no 
man  ever  has."* 

The  man  is  M.  Justin  Herman,  executive  director 
of  the  San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency. 

This  is  only  a  small  but  representative  portion  of 
what  the  national  press  has  had  to  say  about  him 
over  the  years  — 

"What  Herman  is  doing  is  to  help  change  San 
Francisco's  skyline,  clear  slums,  build  housing 
for  the  poor,  and  promote  construction  of  cultural 
centers  in  carrying  forward  the  City's  $1-billion 
redevelopment  program.  Backing  Herman's  often 
abrasive  but  traditionally  liberal  zeal  is  $192-mil- 
lion  in  federal  grants,  which  put  San  Francisco 
among  the  top  10  cities  in  volume  of  money  flow- 
ing from  Washington  and  head  and  shoulders 
above  the  country's  900  active  redevelopment 
agencies."— Business  Week,  May  10,  1969. 

"(One)  of  the  three  top  urban  renewal  men  in  the 
U.S."—  Time  Magazine,  November  6,  1964. 


"Mr.  Herman  has  won  national  applause  for  hi 
administrative  ingenuity  and  his  excellent  result 
as  San  Francisco's  redevelopment  director. 
Democrat  hired  for  the  job  in  1959  by  a  Republ 
can  mayor,  he  successfully  sidestepped  patronag 
and  bureaucratic  traditions  to  overhaul  the  City' 
renewal  staff  and  rejuvenate  a  moribund  program, 
—  Life  Magazine,  December  24,  1965. 

We,  the  Members  of  the  San  Francisco  Redevelop 
ment  Agency,  agree  enthusiastically  with  all  of  th 
above.  Ten  years  ago,  when  Herman  was  appointee 
the  City's  renewal  program  had  been  cited,  in  fac 
as  the  second  worst  in  the  nation.  Now  it  is 
good  as  any  anywhere. 

The  primary  purpose  of  this  report  is  to  show  whe 
redevelopment  means  to  San  Francisco.  But  be 
cause  renewal  has  been  so  closely  associated  wit 
one  man  and  his  continuing  influence,  we,  th 
Members  of  the  San  Francisco  Redevelopmer 
Agency,  dedicate  this  compendium  of  achievemer 
and  commitment  to  M.  Justin  Herman,  the  man  wh 
continues  to  make  it  happen. 


*R.  L.  Revenaugh,  San  Francisco  Examiner,  March 
26,  1969. 


DOCUMENTS  DEPT. 
SAN  FRANCISCO 
PUBLIC  LIBRARY 


The  Decade  Past 


And  The  Decade  To  Come 


San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency 


The  Decade  Past 

And  The  Decade  To  Come 

A  generous  sampling  of  a  decade  of  progress  in  renewal  and 
development  is  recorded  in  this  report.  That  past  is  relatively 
easy  to  record.  In  many  ways  evaluation  may  be  made  with 
clarity  and  certainty.  Pictorial  evidence  is  within  these  pages. 
Readers  already  know  or  can  easily  ascertain  the  renewal's 
social,  cultural  and  economic  additives  to  San  Francisco  life. 
The  inquiring  visitor  may  view,  walk  through  or  otherwise  use 
structures  and  enjoy  open  spaces  created  through  renewal. 
Those  who  like  statistics  in  depth  can  get  them  readily  from 
the  Redevelopment  Agency. 

Much  of  what  was  planned  has  emerged: 

■  Private  housing  for  low-to-moderate  income  families  and 
for  middle-to-upper  income  families  as  well. 

■  Schools. 

■  Green,  open  spaces  for  children  and  adults  to  enjoy  in 
safety. 

■  Job-orientation  and  training  for  dropouts. 

■  Health,  home-making,  and  assistance  with  social  services. 

■  An  Agency  employment  policy  oriented  to  the  neighbor- 
hoods served. 

■  An  Agency  employment  policy  that  exploits  opportunities 
for  having  minorities  not  only  in  lower  echelon  jobs  but  in 
the  high,  professional  assignments  as  well. 

■  Works  of  art  for  the  public  to  enjoy. 

■  Structures  and  spaces  that  respect  man's  need  for  beauty. 

■  Traffic  treatment  and  garaging  to  help  keep  the  automobile 
our  servant  and  not  our  master. 

■  Boosts  to  the  City's  visitor-oriented  economy. 

■  Capturing  our  national  and  ethnic  heritages  through  the 
establishment  of  representative  cultural  and  trade  centers. 

■  Commercial  activities  to  generate  increased  employment. 

How  pleasing  it  would  be  for  us  to  say:  "We  planned  it  this 
way."  Most  of  what  may  now  be  observed  as  the  results  of 
renewal  was  deliberately  and  consciously  planned. 


But,  a  tough-minded  objectivity  tells  us  that  we  did  not  plaq 
all  of  this.  We  planned  ahead  but  we  responded  en  route  t 
changing  needs  of  the  City.  We  fought  for  the  retention  < 
our  goals,  no  matter  what  was  the  opposition,  yet  we  modi 
fied  them  recognizing  that  we  had  not  the  wisdom  to  dete 
mine  in  advance  that  there  was  only  one  right  way— ours-l 
to  advance  the  changes  in  City  life  for  its  people.  So  ofte 
other  people  had  ideas  as  good  or  better  than  our  own.  \A 
encountered  selfishness  and  self-destructiveness,  and  trie 
to  find  a  way— and  often  did— to  live  with  and  get  work  don 
with  those  who  manifested  their  reaction  to  renewal  in  thes 
terms. 

But  we— the  Redevelopment  Agency  people— did  notaccorr 
plish  this  alone.  In  this  last  decade  three  mayors  supporte 
us  in  almost  every  endeavor.  Twenty-nine  members  of  th 
Board  of  Supervisors  inquired,  listened,  investigated  an 
voted  to  use  the  Agency  to  get  some  of  the  City's  importa^ 
work  done.  Thirteen  citizens  came  out  of  private  life  to  serv 
as  Members  of  the  Agency  and  guide  its  policies  and  oper; 
tions.  Our  work  could  have  been  nullified  but  instead  we 
advanced  by  the  regular  City  departments. 

The  Department  of  Housing  and  Urban  Development,  and  il 
predecessor,  the  Housing  and  Home  Finance  Agency,  mad 
grants  and  loans  and  encouraged  practical  experimentatio 
in  a  spirit  which  reflected  a  belief  that  in  some  ways  Sa 
Francisco's  renewal  could  be  a  model  for  others  to  use  an 
adapt. 

In  the  decade  past  we  issued  from  time  to  time  reports  o 
all  the  civic  groups  and  neighborhood  associations  wh1 
worked  with  us  and  on  whose  guidance  we  were  depended 
but  now  the  list  has  become  so  extensive  as  to  be  unwield 
The  press,  almost  always  supportive,  gave  us  no  blank  chec 
and  was  not  above  expressing  its  voice  of  counter-suggestic 
and  criticism. 

It  was  our  good  fortune  to  attract  imaginative  and  dedicate 
developers  willing  to  risk  time,  effort  and  money  on  many! 
difficult  task. 

These  were  the  planning  partners  of  the  Agency  staff.  W; 
there  always  peace  and  harmony?  Did  we  always  agree?  Th 
answer  to  such  questions  is  already  known  to  any  alert  citize 
of  San  Francisco! 

But  how  about  the  decade  ahead?  And  who  will  dare  in  thei. 
troubled  times  to  predict  the  full  range  of  goals,  the  modij 
vivendi,  and  the  mechanisms  we  will  invent  and  will  be  i' 
vented  for  us  for  taking  us  along  the  course  of  a  better  c! 
life? 

We  cannot  foresee  all  that  must  be  done  and  will  be  dor1 
nor  how  it  will  all  be  done.  But  a  great  deal  is  projected 
these  pages,  and  on  certain  broad  approaches  we  can  C 
dare  ourselves: 

■  There  will  be  no  shift  in  the  emphasis  on  the  creation 
jobs,  on  the  better  use  of  land  for  social,  cultural  and  ec 
nomic  purposes,  on  the  use  of  partnerships  with  people  i 
volved  for  the  accomplishment  of  such  goals. 

■  There  will  be  no  diminution  in  the  insistence  on  amenity 
in  architecture,  open  spaces,  works  of  art  for  public  enjc' 
ment,  and  greenery. 

■  Upon  adoption  of  the  concept  by  the  United  States  govei 
ment,  there  will  be  participation  in  the  program  propos 
January  16,  1967  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  upon  sugg< 
tion  of  the  Redevelopment  Agency  that  all  persons  who  ha 
a  reasonable  claim  to  a  place  in  the  labor  market  have  acce  s 
to  paid,  constructive  employment,  education  or  training. 

■  The  volume  of  quality  housing  for  families  will  be  increase 

■  The  provision  of  housing  for  market-starved  single  perso  , 
regardless  of  age  or  condition  of  handicap,  will  be  seriou  I 
undertaken. 


■  Housing  produced  will  vary  in  price  and  amenities  above  a 
<ery  acceptable  level,  but  housing  by  social  categories  and 
5y  income  segmentation  of  its  residents  must  be  abandoned, 
i  A  new  and  simpler  system  for  producing  good  housing 
apidly  must  emerge,  for  the  present  system— good  as  have 
>een  its  results  — is  completely  inadequate  to  our  needs  and 
)ur  capacities  in  this  country. 

»  Housing  will  be  private  in  production,  use  and  ownership. 
ikut  it  will  be  created  within  the  framework  of  a  conscious 
lousing  policy  and  program  of  the  City  and  County  of  San 
•rancisco. 

i  Meaningful  partnerships  with  neighborhood  groups  will 
lourish.  Ideological  indulgence  on  some  mythical  right  of  veto 
»ver  representative  government  will  subside  in  the  awareness 
ff  the  great  benefits  of  collaborative  planning  and  execution. 
Nt  last  there  will  be  a  recognition  that  a  neighborhood  has 
i  de  facto  veto  by  its  own  representations  to  responsible 
lovernment,  except  where  that  government  weighing  the 
leeds  of  all  the  people,  of  all  neighborhoods,  is  obliged  to 
erve  them  all. 

■  Neglected  neighborhoods  will  demand  the  use  of  the  re- 
iewal  process  in  some  form.  The  people  of  the  Mission  and 
:f  Chinatown,  for  example,  will  no  longer  let  the  benefits  of 
le  renewal  process  pass  them  by. 

The  business  community  looking  to  the  economy,  jobs  and 
ne  tax  base  will  ask  itself  why  the  northern  waterfront,  unlike 
waterfronts  in  other  port  and  harbor  cities,  is  not  using  re- 
ewal  to  bring  about  the  needed  benefits  plus  those  of  rec- 
eation,  open  space,  housing  and  traffic  circulation. 

:  Racism  will  be  fought.  Segregation  will  be  fought.  Destruc- 
veness  will  be  fought.  Poverty  will  be  fought.  Not  theoretical 
>ut  down-to-earth  programs  and  projects  that  respect  and 
ncourage  the  rights  and  individuality  of  people  will  guide 
ne  course  of  the  Redevelopment  Agency. 

Operating  within  a  broad  policy  of  City  objectives,  the 
igency  will  continue  to  retain  direction  in  renewal  areas  of 
s  own  planning,  architecture,  engineering,  legal,  relocation, 
!ousing,  business  development  and  fiscal  functions.  The 
apacity  to  deliver  products  and  services  in  renewal  areas 
arallels  the  capacity  to  direct  and  coordinate  these  elements. 

The  Agency  will  continue  to  be  product  and  service  ori- 
nted,  engaging  in  studies  and  planning  only  for  operational 
bjectives. 

Redevelopment  will  emerge  on  a  legal  foundation  not  only 
s  the  City's  instrument  for  the  removal  of  blight  but  also  as 
ie  device  for  creating  better  urban  life.  The  concept  of  a 
evelopment  agency  as  distinguished  from  a  redevelopment 
gency  will  take  hold.  A  truth  so  frequently  denied  despite 
ie  evidence  to  the  contrary  will  gain  public  acceptance  — 
ven  public  insistence:  That  in  substantial  measure  within 
ie  community  the  fruits  of  private  enterprise  on  the  publicly 
rganized  foundation  of  renewal  is  a  far  better  way  of  life 
lan  rampant,  even  if  daring  and  imaginative,  individualism. 

>nly  a  small  part  of  the  City's  needs  has  been  and  will  be  met 
y  the  Agency.  It  is  not  an  objective  in  itself.  Even  though  it 
'ill  be  given  more  assignments  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors, 
does  not  need  more  work  for  its  existence  or  its  amour 
ropre.  The  Agency  is  an  instrument  of  the  people  of  the  City 
f  San  Francisco  expressing  themselves  through  their  Board 
f  Supervisors  and  their  Mayor,  and  through  the  Members  he 
ppoints,  and  through  the  public  agencies  and  departments 
nd  the  civic  and  neighborhood  groups  and  in  composite  — 
ie  San  Francisco  citizen. 

et  us  hope  that  in  another  10  years  another  report  of  prog- 
3ss  can  be  produced,  and  that  the  composite  San  Francisco 
.  itizen  will  be  able  to  say  — how  much  better  are  these  10 
ears  than  the  preceding  10! 


M.  Justin  Herman 
Executive  Director 


1 .  Old  produce  section,  before 
renewal. 

2.  New  townhouses,  Whaleship  Plaza. 

3.  Francois  Stahly  Fountain  and 
apartment  towers. 


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Golden  Gateway 

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)n  the  very  edge  of  the  financial  district,  crying  for  rede- 
■  lopment,  was  the  produce  market,  a  colorful  but  inefficient 
id  badly  blighted  nest  of  low  buildings,  which  the  city 
inning  commission  had  designated  a  slum  immediately 
ter  the  war. 

Like  all  slums,  it  does  not  pay  its  way,  yielding  only  about 
■quarter  of  a  million  dollars  in  annual  taxes  for  more  than 
Ry  prime  acres  in  the  heart  of  the  city. 

Moreover,  it  is  particularly  difficult  to  keep  clean  and  well- 
pliced.  Rats  and  vermin  infest  the  hotels  and  rooming 
puses  where  its  tiny  population  of  six  hundred,  mostly  old 
ten,  live  in  squalor. 

ire  engines  cannot  move  through  the  streets  during  busi- 
css  hours  when  the  trucks  of  the  produce  merchants  are 
hsy  at  the  obsolete  loading  platforms. 
"he  market,  like  the  Halles  in  Paris,  belongs  to  the  nine- 
tenth  century  in  mood  and  location,  even  though  its  build- 
lbs  date  from  the  early  twentieth. 

[Clearly  a  wonderful  renewal  opportunity  existed  here,  close 
t  the  waterfront,  within  easy  walking  distance  of  the  finan- 
cal  district  and  only  a  little  further  from  the  shopping  and 
■tertainment  districts."— Allan  Temko,  Harper's  Magazine, 
Ml  1960. 

r'his  Golden  Gateway  project... is  an  outstanding  example 
t  the  town  replanning  which  is  California's  answer  to  its 
iban  crisis."—  The  London  Economist,  July  9,  1960. 

Jow  rising  along  the  45-acre  waterfront  area  of  what  was 

[ice  the  congested  wholesale  produce  center  is  a  magnifi- 

nt  housing  and  commercial  development  that's  the  result 

a  nationwide  architectural  and  development  competition." 

\nthony  J.  Yudis,  The  Boston  Globe,  November  14,  1963. 

I  he  plaudits  of  all  good  men  are  due  to  San  Francisco  for 
ling  what  was  considered  impossible,  and  awarding  a  big 
development  contract,  for  the  Golden  Gate  project,  un- 
Eimpromisingly  on  the  basis  of  excellence  as  established  by 
e  Redevelopment  Agency's  architectural  competition."  — 
chitectural  Forum,  November  1960. 


,    * 


* 


1 .  Jacques  Overhoff's  bronze 
sculpture,  Boston  Ship  Plaza. 

2.  Townhouses  and  William  Heath 
Davis  House,  from  Jackson  Street. 


1.  Sydney  G.  Walton  Square. 

2.  Henry  Moore's  "Standing  Figure 
Knife  Edged"  and  Alcoa  Building. 

3.  Beniamino  Bufano's  "The 
Penguins." 


Redevelopment  made  over  the  city's 
icturesque  but  dirty  produce  district 
nd  produced  a  city  within  a  city,  re- 
ecting  traditions  of  San  Francisco  — 
rched  openings,  color,  steps  down  to 
Ireet  recalling  hilly  byways,  mix  of 
gh  and  low  buildings,  block-sized 
ark— but  making  its  own  traditions  in 
articular  quality  of  its  plaza-level 
ring . . . 

..The  Golden  Gateway  is  a  shining 
:hievement— by  the  Redevelopment 
gency,  the  developers,  Golden  Gate- 
ay  Center,  the  architects,  Wurster. 
ernardi  &  Emmons  and  DeMars  and 
eay,  Anshen  &  Allen,  associated 
'chitects . . . 

When  the  project  is  complete  some 
:ars  from  now,  Golden  Gateway  will 
t  people  live  on  a  plateau  above  the 
affic-ways  of  the  city,  let  them  take 
e  'high  road'  to  walk  to  work  over 
idges  which  connect  the  blocks  with 
ich  other,  and  will  restore  some  of  the 
nenities  most  city  dwellers  have  not 
town  for  a  long  time."  — Elisabeth 
sndall  Thompson,  Architectural  Rec- 
rd,  September  1965. 


Charles  Perry's  "Icosaspirale"  and 
ontime  lunchers. 

Old  produce  market  congestion. 

Relocated  produce  market,  Islais 
eek. 


"Here  the  old  produce  market  had  to  give  way,  bi 
San  Francisco's  energetic  Redevelopment  Agenc 
helped  to  provide  a  new  one  at  a  location  whic 
will  benefit  both  the  merchants  and  the  city. 
"At  the  time  of  my  visit,  earlier  this  summer,  I  sa 
only  the  construction  fence,  around  the  huge  e: 
cavation  that  will  be  the  Golden  Gateway,  and 
quaint  old  arch,  which  is  the  only  thing  left  on  i 
site.  Both  are  symbolic  of  the  exceptional  spirit 
which  San  Francisco  approaches  its  renewal. 
"It  is  a  spirit  more  sophisticated  than  the  wore 
'civic  pride'  would  denote  and  as  worldly  as  it 
touchingly  parochial.  Good  architecture  and  got 
food  really  matter  in  San  Francisco . . . 
"The  archway,  left  over  from  the  now  demolishi 
Colombo  Market,  will  be  retained  as  a  whimsic 
memento  of  the  past.  It  is  surely  no  great  archite 
tural  relic,  but  after  some  study,  was  found  to  be  tl 
only  worthy  one.  Along  with  it,  some  cobbleston 
salvaged  from  the  torn  up  streets,  and  old  cast  in 
columns  from  the  market  will  also  be  used  in  tl 
new  development . . . 

"The  Renewal  Agency's  report  gives  as  much  spa 
to  the  project's  artistic  embellishments— an  inti 
national  competition  for  the  main  sculpture  w 
won  by  the  Parisian  Francois  Stahly— than  to  tl 
usual  budget  figures.  This,  too,  could  only  happ 
in  San  Francisco."— Wolf  Von  Eckardt,  The  New  F 
public,  September  21,  1963. 


1  and  2.  Robert  Woodward  Fountain, 

Maritime  Plaza. 

3.  Overlooking  Ironship  Plaza 

townhouses. 


"In  San  Francisco's  Alcoa  building,  the  beautifully 
proportioned  glass  box  hangs  within  a  strong  steel 
cage  of  vertical  and  diagonal  steel  beams... 

"With  its  crisscross  beams  bracing  it  against  earth- 
quakes, (it)  is  spectacular  as  the  centerpiece  for 
the  S100  million  Golden  Gateway  Center. 

"Its  pedestrian  malls  are  linked  by  bridges  to  other 
buildings  ..  ."  —  Time  Magazine,  August  2.  1968. 


1 .  Colombo  Market  archway. 

2.  Alcoa  Building. 


"Gateway  to  greatness . . . 
"By  1972  there  will  be  a  bustle  of  excitement  at  San  Fran-i 
Cisco's  Bayfront  portal  such  as  has  not  been  seen  here 
since  Gold  Rush  days. 
"In  more  recent  times,  grocery  trucks  jammed  these  water- 
front streets  as  they  loaded  up  with  onions  and  cabbages 
for  Bay  Area  tables. 

"But  three  years  hence,  these  streets  will  look  more  like 
those  shown  here. 

"The  tall  structures  behind  the  Ferry  Building  sit  on  the  81/2 
acre  Embarcadero  Center. 

"By  1972,  you'll  be  seeing  its  wedge-shaped  hotel  in  opera 
tion,  as  well  as  the  45-story  Security  Pacific  Bank  build 
ing... "  —  California  Living,  May  11,  1969. 


Embarcadero  Center 


1.  Before  redevelopment. 

2.  Embarcadero  Center  model. 


"So  what  do  you  do  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  in  May  ot  1972 
at  the  loot  of  Market  Street  in  Fabulous  San  Francisco?  . . . 

"Take  a  walk. 

A  walk  along  the  waterfront  starts  at  the  Embarcadero 
Plaza,  a  four-acre  $1.3  million  bit  of  green,  with  big  sounds, 
Dig  sights.  A  noisy  haven  at  the  hub  of  traffic.  It's  all  neu- 
ralized  by  Embarcadero  Plaza. 

'It  is  the  southern  anchor  of  the  new  North  Waterfront;  a 
strange  and  wonderful  man-made  glen. 

'You  walk  past  the  little  cafes  that  smell  more  like  American 
lotdogs  with  tangy  mustard  than  French  or  Russian  pastries. 
3ut  maybe  that's  all  right,  too.  The  North  Waterfront  is  a 
ittle  bit  like  Coney  Island  of  old— good  for  the  kids,  the 
ourists  and  a  Sunday  on  the  edge  of  the  water. 

'In  tact,  a  walk  through  the  Plaza  is  like  a  happening.  At 
he  north  end  of  the  plaza,  the  busiest  happening  of  all. 
America's  first  great  monumental  fountain,  they  said.  When 
Vrmand  Vaillancourt,  that  wild  French  Canadian  sculptor, 
irst  unveiled  his  model,  some  San  Franciscans  said  he  was 
nad. 

But  then  who  else  could  visualize  a  man-made  Niagara 
alls,  or  hear  roaring  waters,  or  feel  the  swirling  mists.  You 
valk  through  myriads  ol  sparkles,  tremble  to  the  cacophony 

tiat  joins,  yet  overpowers,  the  frantic  noise  of  The  City."  — 
ick  Revenaugh,  California  Living,  May  11,  1969. 


Security  Pacific  Bank  Building. 

and  3.  Armand  Vaillancourt  Grand 
ountain. 


10 


1.  Diamond  Heights,  before  renewal. 

2.  Downtown  view  from  Red  Rock 
Hill  apartments. 


Diamond  Heights 


mJ&I\~~^                 \\               /T^ 

^l-'         1— =- ■     Xj^    s%  j 

1           j 

.        J                Y   Y^*J» 

"A  craggy  goat  pasture  becomes  an  oasis  of  handsome 
varied  housing. 

"Diamond  Heights  presented  unique  opportunities,  for  it  was 
a  choice  area  at  the  crown  of  the  hills  west  of  downtowr 
San  Francisco.  But  it  was  rendered  undevelopable  privatel) 
by  scattered  land  holdings  amid  a  gridiron  plat  that  left  man) 
ravine  lots  with  no  access. 
"Replatted  to  follow  contours,  Diamond  Heights'  land  was 
promoted  like  a  real  estate  development  and  the  Redevelop 
ment  Agency  got  prices  high  enough  (some  hilltop  lots  wen 
for  as  much  as  $15,000)  so  the  project  will  need  no  federa 
subsidy. 

"Moreover,  by  pricing  prime  sites  high,  the  city  took  ii 
enough  money  to  sell  sites  for  middle-income  units  at  art! 
ficially  low  prices— a  Robin  Hood  policy  of  letting  the  ricl 
help  pay  for  housing  the  poor..."— House  and  Home.  Feb 
ruary  1964. 


Nowhere  else  in  the  U.S.  has  a  big  city  come  up  with  such 
showcase  of  handsome  residential  projects  only  minutes 
iom  downtown.  San  Francisco's  breakthrough  is  an  object 
■sson  for  the  nation. 

These  two  renewal  projects  (Western  Addition  Area  1  and 
iamond  Heights)  set  a  new  standard  of  quality  in  urban 
ousing  design. 

(They)  are  two  of  the  most  exciting— and  strikingly  differ- 
nt  — urban  renewal  projects  in  the  country."— House  and 

'ome,  February  1964. 


In  Diamond  Heights,  which  made  history  in  a  court  test  of 
ie  California  Community  Development  Act  since  it  involved 
proposal  to  'redevelop'  undeveloped  land,  several  hundred 
jmilies  have  moved  into  custom-built  single-family  houses, 
eveloper-built  single  family  houses,  townhouses  and  con- 
ominium  apartment  units. 

A  neighborhood  shopping  center  and  office  building  has 
een  completed,  and  over  400  moderate-rent  garden  units 
•re  being  built."— Architectural  Record,  September  1965. 


Red  Rock  Hill  apartments  along 
iamond  Heights  Boulevard. 


12 


1  and  2.  Stefan  Alexander  Novak 
decorative  safety  wall. 

3  and  4.  Glenridge. 


13 


Glenridge  is  almost  too  good  to  be 
rue . . . 

'The  project  is,  critics  say,  well  de- 
signed. It  is  racially  balanced,  totally 
ntegrated  and,  indeed,  moderately- 
>riced  in  its  rentals... 

The  last  of  Glenridge's  275  housing 
m  its  are  now  being  rented,  and  already 
here's  awaiting  list... 

rThe  beginnings  were  not  so  smooth . . . 
'There  were  complaints  from  neigh- 
tors  who  did  not  want  'poor  people' 
lowngrading  the  Glenridge  area  and 
here  were  problems  with  construction 
lue  to  soil  conditions  and  the  hilly 
kites. 

'The  project  is  strung  out  over  14  acres 
ilong  the  southern  slope  of  Diamond 
heights  and  built  on  three  separate 
k'acts  of  land..."  — Scott  Blakey,  San 
Francisco  Chronicle,  May  19.  1969. 


.  Diamond  Heights  Elementary 
School. 

'..  Glenridge  mini-park. 


"All  the  designs  (for  moderately-priced  housing  in  Diamond 
Heights)  reflect  a  strong  respect  for  people  as  human  beings 
and  for  their  need  for  more  than  bread  in  their  daily  lives." 

—  Elisabeth  Kendall  Thompson,  San  Francisco  Examiner. 
August  12,  1963. 


14 


1.  American  Housing  Guild  homes, 
Gold  Mine  Hill. 

2  and  3.  Hayman  homes,  along  Gold 
Mine  Hill  Drive. 


"The  redevelopment  agency  spent  $9.5  million  buying  the 
land  and  grading  the  hills,  moving  2  million  cubic  yards  ir 
the  process. 

"...On  the  slopes  are  scores  of  new  single-family  homes 
some  of  them  expensive,  some  modestly  priced,  but  all  ex 
hibiting  the  imaginative  architecture  that  has  come  to  be 
expected  in  San  Francisco."—  The  Louisville  Courier-Journam 
&  Times,  March  5, 1967. 


15 


1.  St.  Nicholas  Syrian  Antiochian 
Orthodox  Church. 

2.  Shepherd  of  the  Hills  Lutheran 
Church. 

3.  St.  Aidan's  Episcopal  Church. 

4.  John  F.  Shelley  Fire  Station. 


"The  Western  Addition  project,  proposed  in  1949,  was  a 
model  enterprise,  the  first  of  its  kind  to  take  advantage  of 
new  federal  legislation  enabling  cities  to  pay  a  comparatively 
small  share  of  redevelopment  costs  by  providing  streets, 
sewers,  and  other  facilities  which  would  be  needed  in  any 
case  and  often  are  already  in  existence."— Allan  Temko, 
Harper's  Magazine,  April  1960. 


Western  Addition  A-1 


"The  once-fine  old  houses  in  this  area  began  their  decline 
when  the  earthquake  and  fire  caused  an  influx  of  refugees 
into  the  undamaged  Western  Addition. 

"Housing  shortages  in  World  Wars  I  and  II  repeated  the 
doubling-up  process  to  the  point  that,  in  1948,  the  San  Fran- 
cisco Board  of  Supervisors  declared  a  portion  of  the  area 
'blighted,'  thus  making  it  eligible  for  redevelopment  under 
the  state's  Community  Redevelopment  Act  of  1945. 
"The  redevelopment  area  was  broken  into  two  parts,  known 
as  Area  I  and  Area  2."— Elisabeth  Kendall  Thompson,  Archi- 
tectural Record,  September  1965. 


"St.  Francis  Square:  City's  first  moderate-priced  and  multi- 
racial co-op  housing  project  successfully  creates  new  en- 
vironment in  series  of  courts."— Architectural  Record,  Sep- 
tember 1965. 


1  and  2.  Award-winning  St.  Francis 
Square. 


.  The  way  it  used  to  be. 

!.  New  Western  Addition  Public 
.ibrary. 

I.  Laguna  O'Farrell  (background) 
ind  Laguna  Heights  apartments. 


!S!!!»iiJniiigS^ 


'-IV 

Mil 


"(San  Francisco's)  most  sweeping  project  is  the  Westernl 
Addition  just  west  of  the  downtown  business  district,  where 
a  slum,  eleven  by  four  blocks,  is  being  leveled  and  replaced 
by  apartment  houses,  office  buildings,  a  hospital,  a  medical 
building,  garages,  a  Japanese  Cultural  and  Trade  Center  and 
a  Roman  Catholic  cathedral,  and  a  299-unit,  successfully 
integrated  cooperative."— Time,  November  6,  1964. 


"What  especially  distinguishes  these  two  projects  (Westernj 
Addition  and  Golden  Gateway)  is  the  important  role  assigned 
to  architecture  as  the  means  of  providing  an  environment 
which  recognizes  both  human  values  and  urban  relationships; 
at  the  same  time  that  it  does  not  ignore  essential  economic 
factors.  Each  project  makes  this  point  in  a  different  way...'i 
—Architectural  Record,  September  1960. 

"San  Francisco,  through  urban  renewal,  has  demonstrated! 
how  low-income,  moderate-income  and  high-income  housing 
can  be  provided  in  the  core  area  of  the  central  city."— Dr. 

Robert  C.  Weaver,  former  Secretary,  U.S.  Department  of  Hous- 
ing and  Urban  Development,  The  Washington  Post,  April  5, 
1964. 


1 .  The  Sequoias-San  Francisco 
retirement  complex. 

2.  Carillon  apartments. 

3.  Phoebe  A.  Hearst  Preschool 
Learning  Center. 


19 


■ 


1 1 


1.  First  Unitarian  Church  addition. 

2.  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  model. 


20 


"From  a  fountain  of  fire  cen- 
tered in  a  vast  reflection  pool 
to  a  simulated  forest  of  feathery 
bamboo  plantings,  the  pavilion 
is  an  architectural  delight. 
Shops,  garden  areas,  tearooms 
and  displays  open  onto  a  maze 
of  squares  and  walkways  pro- 
tected from  the  elements  by  an 
overall  roof  and  from  street 
noise  by  a  deceptively  austere 
wall  which  fronts  onto  Buchan- 
an St.  Parking  for  800  cars  is 
accommodated  underground. 

"Adjacent  to  the  pavilion  is  the 
Miyako  Hotel,  richly  furnished 
with  low-slung  Japanese  furni- 
ture and  managed  in  traditional 
Japanese  style  with  a  kimono- 
clad  doorman  and  bowing, 
smiling  bellboys  wearing  hap- 
pi-coats.  An  overnight  stay 
here  can  be  a  real  Oriental  ad- 
venture, especially  if  you  re- 
quest one  of  the  typical  ryokan 
rooms  carpeted  with  rush  mats 
and  with  the  bed  placed  directly  j 
on  the  floor... 

"San  Francisco's  Chinatown 
still  has  its  charms,  but  the 
Japanese  Culture  and  Trade 
Center's  reflection  ponds,  rock 
gardens  and  interweaving  of 
texture  and  architectural 
planes  produce  a  tranquil 
world  where  the  usually  hectic 
activities  of  sightseeing  and 
shopping  may  be  accom- 
plished with  little  effort,  plus 
the  exotic  sense  of  being  in  an 
Oriental  land. 

"Don't  miss  it  when  you  visit 
San  Francisco."— Choral  Pep- 
per, Los  Angeles  Times,  June 
22,  1969. 


1  and  2.  Yoshiro  Taniguchi's  Peace 
Pagoda. 


"Japantown,  on  Post  and  Buchanan  Sts.  in  San  Francisco, 
is  the  Nisei  answer  to  San  Francisco's  famous  Chinatown. 

"This  burgeoning  1-square-mile  Ginza  is  part  of  an  urban 
renewal  project  to  redevelop  an  antiquated  district . . .  Opened 
recently,  San  Francisco's  Little  Japan  consists  of  a  thick 
concentration  of  import  shops  featuring  groceries,  hardware, 
electronic  wizardry,  restaurants,  jewelry  shops,  art  galleries, 
flower-arrangement  displays,  dress  shops,  Japanese  busi- 
ness and  financial  houses  and  gifts  — all  woven  among  post- 
age-stamp gardens,  stepping  stones  and  earthenware  pools 
under  a  covered  pavilion  called  the  Japanese  Cultural  and 
Trade  Center. 

"In  spite  of  its  impressive  architecture  and  exotic  landscap- 
ing, it  remains  a  tourist  sleeper  — possibly  because  it  was 
created  by  Japanese-Americans  to  enjoy  for  themselves  and 
not  purely  as  a  tourist  gimmick.  This  is  the  first  time  in  its 
long  history  that  San  Francisco's  10,000  Japanese  popula- 
tion has  had  a  sector  catering  exclusively  to  its  own  cultural 
refinements."— Choral  Pepper.  Los  Angeles  Times.  June  22. 
1969. 


1.  Miyako  Hotel. 

2.  Inside  the  Bridge  of  Shops. 

3.  Annual  Cherry  Blossom  Festival. 


22 


.' 


<ii       >  ,i  "(I  ^  *S  f ' 


assa- 

il            /3^ 

><t-<j 

f"--- 

Jf/y^i 

^^^shA      i  ^r 

1             i 

1             ' 

P 

Western  Addition  A-2 


"This  redevelopment  is  adjacent  to  the  Western 
Addition  Area  I,  where  there  are  high-rent  units 
and  the  racially  integrated  moderate-income  St. 
Francis  (Square)  Redevelopment. 

"The  proposed  new  urban  renewal  project  in  the 
neighborhood  is  much  larger  and  more  significant 
than  the  first..." 


"Here  is  an  example  of  what  can  be  done  to  mini- 
mize dislocation,  provide  a  stable  pattern  of  bi- 
racial  living,  and  achieve  a  degree  of  economic 
diversification  under  urban  renewal.  In  this  respect 
it  is  similar  to  the  West  Side  Urban  Renewal  of 
New  York  City.  These  two  proposed  redevelop- 
ments  represent  a  prototype  of  the  potential  of 
urban  renewal  to  make  a  positive  contribution 
toward  the  establishment  of  democratic  housing 
patterns.  They  present  a  challenge  to  the  program 
and  to  the  cities  of  the  Nation."— Dr.  Robert  C. 
Weaver,  former  Secretary,  U.S.  Housing  and  Urban 
Development  Department,  The  Urban  Complex: 
Human  Values  in  Urban  Life,  Doubleday,  1964. 


1  and  2.  Rehabilitated  Victorians 
along  Bush  Street. 

3.  Blight,  before  renewal. 


23 


4      I   ft5' 


1  and  2.  Ridley  Square,  the  first 
mini-park. 

3.  The  way  it  has  been. 


24 


1.  Western  Addition  Community 
Tree,  and  Martin  Luther  King  Square. 

2  and  3.  Martin  Luther  King  Square. 


"Martin  Luther  King  Square,  the  new  complex  of  town  house 
units  in  the  Western  Addition  area  of  San  Francisco,  is  a 
fitting  tribute  to  a  man  whose  name  has  become  symbolic 
of  brotherhood.  It  is  also  a  stunning  display  of  what  is  being 
accomplished  across  the  Nation  when  neighborhood  organ- 
izations, private  enterprise  and  private  philanthropy  and  local 
and  Federal  Governments  all  set  out  cooperatively  to  bring 
a  better  life  to  the  disadvantaged. 

"Rentals  in  this  handsome  complex  will  be  geared  to  income 
and  will  range  from  $33  to  $122.50  for  a  single  bedroom 
unit  to  $52  to  $187.50  for  four  bedrooms.  Priority  tenancy 
will  be  given  families  displaced  by  redevelopment;  for  those 
who  gain  admission  to  Martin  Luther  King  Square,  a  new 
and  higher  standard  of  living  will  be  instantly  attained. 

"The  110  units  of  King  Square  are  only  the  first  of  nearly  a 
score  of  such  developments  planned  by  the  San  Francisco 
Redevelopment  Agency  and  its  associated  sponsors.  All  rep- 
resent realistic  solutions  to  a  problem  plaguing  all  American 
cities."— San  Francisco  Chronicle  Sunday  Punch,  August  23, 
1969. 


X 


25 


1.  Martin  Luther  King  Square. 

2.  Westside  Public  Health  Center. 


v        --   ." 


26 


1 .  The  Nihonmachi  (Japan  Town)  of 
shops  and  residences  to  come. 

2.  Banneker  Homes,  more  low-to- 
moderate-priced  housing. 


27 


"By  utilizing  all  of  the  tools  now  available 
to  urban  renewal,  the  local  public  agency 
expects  to  provide,  under  redevelopment, 
some  4500  dwelling  units  for  families,  and 
accommodations  for  1450  single  persons... 
"The  new  community,  like  St.  Francis  Re- 
development, will  be  a  stable  racially  in- 
tegrated neighborhood...  But  it  will  have 
an  additional  feature;  it  will  be  composed 
of  low-  as  well  as  moderate-income  occu- 
pants, and,  perhaps,  a  few  higher-income 
households  and  individuals.  There  will  be 
an  almost  equal  number  of  rehabilitated 
and  newly  constructed  dwelling  units  in 
the  redevelopment."— Dr  Robert  C  Weaver, 
former  Secretary,  U.S.  Housing  and  Urban 
Development  Department,  The  Urban  Com- 
dex: Human  Values  in  Urban  Life,  Double- 
day,  1964 


1.  First  scattered  public  housing 
scheduled  for  the  area. 

2.  Future  Fillmore  Community 
Development  Association  housing. 

3.  Friendship  Institutional  Baptist 
Church  development. 


{TjjV'^n^ 


28 


Yerba  Buena  Center 


1 .  Three-block  convention, 
business  and  sports  center 
to  be. 


"The  status  quo  in  the  Yerba  Buena 
Center  area  lying  between  Market  and 
Harrison  and  between  Second  and 
Fifth  streets,  is  nothing  that  stirs  one's 
interest  to  preserve.  Here  among  3800 
inhabitants  are  found  the  prevalent 
diseases  of  blighted  and  slum  areas- 
alcoholism,  tuberculosis,  venereal  dis- 
ease. Here  also  are  found  the  highest 
hazards  from  hotel  fires  that  the  city 
has  to  cope  with  (averaging  nearly  50 
a  year).  Here  jobs  and  productive  activ- 
ity are  declining  and  the  burdens  of  the 
social  welfare  agencies  are  increasing. 
By  going  ahead  with  its  plans  for  trans- 
formation—to which  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment is  committed  to  contribute 


29 


around  S31  million  — the  Redevelop- 
ment Agency  expects  to  change  dra- 
matically 'the  character  and  public 
image  of  one  of  the  city's  most  blighted 
areas.'"—  San  Francisco  Chronicle, 
January  18.  1966. 


"Ice  hockey  and  basketball  fans  should 
find  their  kicks  conveniently  close  by 
1972  or  soon  thereafter.  Yerba  Buena 
Center's  new  sports  arena  will  be  so 
near  the  Powell  Street  BART  station 
you'll  be  able  to  reach  it  through  an 
underground  passage.  Drivers  will  put 
their  vehicles  in  the  adjacent  2000-car 
garages. 

"If  you're  a  shopkeeper,  restaurateur 
or  taxi  operator  — or  any  of  the  occupa- 
tions that  prosper  from  tourism  — look 
for  a  spurt  in  business  from  1972  on 
as  the  town's  7000  new  hotel  rooms 
King  in  bigger  conventions  and  as 
Yerba  Buena  Center's  convention 
complex  gets  into  operation."— Gerald 
Adams,  California  Living,  May  11,  1969. 


'The  San  Francisco  Redevelopment 
Agency  today  took  the  wraps  off  its 
old  and  dramatic  design  for  trans- 
orming  three  skid  row  blocks  into  one 
)f  the  most  dynamic  urban  centers  of 
America. 

'Besides  unveiling  a  scale  model  of 
what  is  to  become  the  core  of  the  six- 
ilock  Yerba  Buena  Center  South  of 
Market,  the  agency  invited  developers 
o  come  forward  with  proposals  for 
Duiiding  it  — the  faster  the  better... 

'That  job  requires  the  construction  in 
i  few  years  of  a  14,000-seat  sports 
arena,  350,000  square-feet  convention 
iall,  800  room  hotel,  half  a  dozen  office 
lowers,  2200  seat  theater,  airlines  ter- 
ninal,  cultural  center,  shops,  restau- 
ants.  garages  for  4000  cars,  pedes- 
Irian  malls  and  landscaped  plazas. 

'All  this  will  go  up  (and  under)  the 
Ihree  huge  blocks  bounded  by  Third, 
:ourth,  Market  and  Folsom  Streets. 

'As  designed  by  a  team  headed  by 
lamed  Japanese  architect  Kenzo 
Tange,  the  three  block  development 
will  be  all  the  way  a  three-level  affair." 

—  Donald  Canter,  San  Francisco  Exam- 
iner, June  5,  1969. 


1.  Sports  Arena,  model. 

2.  Hotel  (background),  overhead 
garages  and  great  ramp  towers. 

3.  The  South  of  Market  scene  today. 


twWorf  ! 


*x*?f^T 


- 


31 


"Urban  renewal,  San  Francisco-style,  is  differ- 
ent. 

"Just  like  everything  else  about  possibly 
America's  most  beloved  city,  urban  renewal 
is  practiced  here  with  a  sensitivity  and  a  flair 
that  make  the  efforts  of  most  other  cities 
appear  lumbering  and  pedestrian... 

"Everywhere  (you)  could  see  evidence  of  the 
careful  planning  that  goes  into  renewal  plan- 
ning here.  It  could  be  seen  in  the  insistence 
on  not  just  good  but  great  architectural  de- 
sign, in  the  attention  given  to  aesthetics  and 
amenities  for  'the  good  life,'  and  on  the  con- 
sideration given  the  sociological  aspects  of 
redevelopment... 

"Another  aspect  of  urban  renewal  in  San  Fran- 
cisco that  differs  from  other  cities  is  the  extent 
to  which  the  public  is  allowed  and  encouraged 
to  participate  in  the  planning  of  the  projects 
and  the  decision-making  that  follows. 
"No  renewal  project  is  launched  or  even  pro- 
posed here  without  extensive  public  discus- 
sion, formal  and  otherwise.  There  are  more 
public  hearings  than  most  cities  have,  and 
most  are  well  attended."—  The  Louisville  Cou- 
rier-Journal &  Times,  March  5,  1967. 


And  developments  just  outside  of 
the  three  central  blocks  of  Yerba 
Buena  Center: 

1.  United  California  Bank 
rehabilitation,  from  old  warehouse 
to  operations  center. 

2.  Taylor-Woodrow  Property  Company 
Limited  office  building  and  garage. 


1.  Proposed  Del  Monte  Corporation 
international  headquarters. 

2.  Housing  for  the  elderly,  on 
Clementina  Street. 

3.  But  a  blighted  area  today. 


nun  nun  huh 
nun  iiiiii  mm 
huh  nun  mm 
mm  mm  iiiiii 

IIIIII  HUH  iiiiii 

ill  iiiiii  mm 


■i 


in 


IMMII 


32 


1 .  The  new  Hunters  Point  to  be, 
overlooking  proposed  India  Basin 
Industrial  Park. 

2  and  3.  Bayview-Hunters  Point 
Community  Development  Corporation 
housing  to  come. 


33 


Hunters  Point 


"The  San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency  and  resi- 
dents of  the  city's  Hunters  Point  and  Butchertown 
(since  renamed  India  Basin  Industrial  Park)  areas  have 
shown  that  citizen  participation  in  renewal  planning 
can  work... 

"After  three  years  of  concentrated  cooperative  effort 
on  the  part  of  (a)  area  citizens,  (b)  the  Redevelop- 
ment Agency,  and  (c)  a  jointly  selected  consulting 
firm,  plans  for  renewal  of  Hunters  Point  and  Butcher- 
town  have  been  given  both  local  and  federal  govern- 
ment approval. 

"The  plans,  which  call  for  coordinated  development 
of  a  new  residential  community  in  Hunters  Point  and 
a  new  India  Basin  Industrial  Park  that  will  provide  em- 
ployment opportunities  for  Hunters  Point  and  other 
nearby  residents,  will  cost  some  65.5  million  dollars 
to  execute..."— Journal  of  Housing,  May  1969. 


1.  Hunters  Point  housing.  1969. 

2.  Ridge  Point  Methodist  Church 
housing  of  tomorrow. 

3.  Bayview-Hunters  Point  Credit 
Union  housing  to  come. 


34 


"The  commander  of  the  great  naval  shipyard  in  San  Fran- 
cisco inspected  the  temporary  wartime  housing  on  Hunters 
Point  in  1948  and  declared  that  the  2,300  units  occupied 
by  the  yard's  workers  had  become  'almost  unlivable.' 

"Fortunately,  he  added,  they  would  all  be  vacated  by  mid- 
1949. 

"A  generation  later,  there  is  finally  hope  that  Hunters  Point 
may  be  transformed  from  San  Francisco's  dreariest  ghetto 
to  a  livable  neighborhood,  serving  not  only  the  800  families 
who  inhabit  the  temporary  wartime  housing  but  another  1,200 
as  well... 

"Next  to  the  shipyard  are  a  few  blocks  of  uninspiring  build- 
ings, including  drab  permanent  housing  units,  a  badly  de- 
signed school,  and  the  recreation  center.  On  the  ridges 
closer  to  the  freeway,  it  is  an  almost  treeless  waste,  scarred 
by  rows  of  wooden  barracks-like  structures. 

"Close  at  hand,  the  buildings  look  still  worse.  They  are  two 
stories  high;  battleship  gray,  pale  green,  beige,  or  some 
other  washed-out  pastel  in  color;  and  each  serves  as  home 
for  eight  families.  The  area  is  always  ripe  for  unrest,  and 
racial  outbreaks  have  been  frequent."— Michael  Harris,  CITY 
Magazine,  November  1967. 


1.  Still  more  low-to-moderate- 
priced  housing  — Bayview-Hunters 
Point  Credit  Union  units. 

2  and  3.  Planned  Double  Rock  Baptist 
Church  units. 


35 


"V 


1.  and  2.  Also  for  and  by  the 
community— All  Hallows  Roman 
Catholic  Church  units. 


"Plans  for  the  134-acre  project  area  call  for  clearance  of 
about  71  percent  of  the  263  buildings  there  for  the  develop- 
ment of  a  medium  density  residential  community  of  single- 
family  homes  and  multi-unit  apartment  buildings.  A  large 
portion  of  new  Hunters  Point  housing  will  be  built  by  com- 
munity-based non-profit  groups  especially  for  low-  to  mod- 
erate-income tenants... 

"In  addition  to  the  new  housing,  the  Hunters  Point  com- 
munity will  have  a  new  commercial  center  and  new  schools, 
churches,  and  child  care  centers.  New  recreation  facilities, 
now  seriously  lacking  in  Hunters  Point,  will  include  a  neigh- 
borhood activities  building,  two  large  parks,  a  large  play- 
field,  tot  lots,  and  pedestrian  pathways." —Journal  of  Housing, 
May  1969. 


36 


lr^isj 

f          A/  ^\^  s 

India  Basin  Industrial  Park 
(Formerly  Butchertown) 


"According  to  the  1965  survey  sponsored  by  the  Greats 
San  Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Butchertown  offer 
a  potentially  excellent  site  for  new  industrial  developmer 
in  San  Francisco.  Its  present  state,  however,  is  little  bette 
than  an  industrial  slum.  Many  of  the  city's  meat-packin 
companies  are  housed  in  dilapidated,  obsolete  Butchertow 
structures.  Other  businesses,  including  auto  wrecking  oper; 
tions,  which  clutter  the  landscape  and  yet  offer  few  job: 
are  also  located  in  Butchertown..."  —  Journal  of  Housint* 
May  1969. 


1.  Butchertown  today. 

2.  Planned  India  Basin  Industrial  Park. 

3.  Possible  future  plant  for  James 
Allan  &  Son,  artist's  rendering. 


37 


For  redevelopment  purposes,  India  Basin  Industrial  Park 
as  been  divided  into  two  districts.  District  I,  located  in  the 
outhern  portion  of  the  project  area,  where  Butchertown 
leets  Hunters  Point,  is  slated  for  light  industrial  use.  Much 
f  the  renewal  there  will  be  accomplished  through  rehabili- 
ition.  District  II,  located  in  the  northern  part  of  Butcher- 
>wn,  will  undergo  major  clearance  to  free  large  sites  for 
eavier,  high-employment  industry.  Officials  hope  that  the 
umber  of  jobs  in  Butchertown,  currently  about  1400,  will 
lore  than  double  and  perhaps  triple  through  redevelop- 
lent . . . 


Renewal  will  give  India  Basin  Industrial  Park  a  new  street 
ystem  to  accommodate  industrial  traffic  and  to  relate  the 
rea  to  the  surrounding  streets.  A  proposed  freeway  will  run 
long  the  northern  boundary  of  the  project  area.  About  4.5 
cres  of  the  project  will  be  used  for  such  retail  and  business 
ervices  as  restaurants,  branch  banking,  and  professional 
ffices..."— Journal  of  Housing,  May  1969. 


1.  Butchertown  now. 


38 


Chinese  Cultural  And  Trade  Center 


"The  Chinese  Cultural  and  Trade  Cen- 
ter, which  will  bridge  Chinatown  and 
the  Financial  District  and  hopes  to 
bridge  East  and  West,  officially  got 
under  way  yesterday... 

"The  $14  million  complex  will  be  27 
stories  tall,  contain  a  572-room  hotel 
operated  by  Holiday  Inns  of  America, 
and  a  460-car  garage. 
"The  huge  third  floor,  however,  will 
contain  the  Chinese  Cultural  and  Trade 
Center.  And  it  will  be  linked  to  Ports- 
mouth Square  and  Chinatown  by  a  28- 
foot-wide  pedestrian  bridge  spanning 
Kearny  Street. 

"The  20,000  square  feet  of  space  will 
be  leased  to  the  non-profit  Chinese 
Culture  Foundation  for  $1  per  year  by 
the  private  developers,  Justice  Inves- 
tors, although  the  developer  will  con- 
tribute the  entire  $650,000  cost  of  the 
cultural  center's  construction. 
"This  unusual  financial  arrangement 
was  arranged  on  behalf  of  the  city  by 
the  Redevelopment  Agency,  which  was 
asked  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  to 
find  a  developer  that  could  deliver  on 
the  many  promises  of  a  center  city 
fathers  had  been  making  to  the  Chi- 
nese community  for  years. 

"Yesterday  showed  just  how  well  the 
agency  delivered."  — Ron  Moskowitz, 
San  Francisco  Chronicle,  August  21, 
1968. 


1.  Chinese  Cultural  and  Trade  Center, 
model. 

2.  Making  the  site  ready  for  renewal. 


39 


Oiti#  Anrl  C^rwirrHi  C\i  Qan  Pi 


rancisco 


hinese  Cultural  And  Trade 


i 


City  And  County  Of  San  Francisco 


Joseph  L.  Alioto,  Mayor 

Board  of  Supervisors 

John  A.  Ertola,  President 

William  C.  Blake 

Roger  Boas 

Terry  A.  Francois 

Robert  E.  Gonzales 

James  Mailliard 

Robert  H.  Mendelsohn 

Jack  Morrison 

Ronald  Pelosi 

Peter  Tamaras 

Dorothy  von  Beroldingen 


San  Francisco 
Redevelopment  Agency 

Post  Office  Box  No.  646 


Redevelopment  in  San  Francisco 

a.  GOLDEN  GATEWAY      e.  VERBA  BUENA  CENTER 

b.  DIAMOND  HEIGHTS      f.  CHINESE  CULTURAL  &  TRADE  CENTER 
C.  WESTERN  ADDITION,  AREA  1      g.  HUNTERS  POINT 

d.  WESTERN  ADDITION,  AREA  2      h.  INDIA  BASIN  INDUSTRIAL  PARK 


fesign.  Ken  Ruttner 

Typography:  Spartan  Typographers 

Jthography:  California  Printing  Co. 


October  1969 


31  Marys  Cathedral:  Yerba  Buena  Center  Central 
3locks.  and  Embarcadero  Center  Fountain  Model 
Photos-Gerald  Ratto 

Portraits:  Model  photos  of  Chinese  Cultural  & 
Trade  Center,  Hunters  Point  &  India  Basin  In- 
dustrial Park-Ronald  Hammers 
Photos  of  Icosaspirale.  Whaleship  Plaza.  Moore 
Sculpture-Dickey  &  Harleen 
Photo  of  Taylor-Wood  row  Model-Dwain  Faubion 
All  others-Winston  Sin 


The  preparation  of  this  report  was  financed 
in  part  through  Federal  advances,  (oans. 
and  grants  from  the  Deoartment  of  Housing 
and  Urban  Development  under  the  provi- 
sions of  Title  1  of  the  Housing  Act  of  1949, 
as  amended. 


V 


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San  Francisco  Redevelopment  1971-1973 


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Mayor  [oseph  L  Alioto 


Only  .i  few  weeks  before  his  unexpected 

death,  M.  Justin  Herman,  the  executive 
director  of  the  San  Francisco  Redevelopment 
Agency,  set  down  his  feelings  about  urban 

renewal,  its  past,  its  present  and  its  future. 
His  statement  which  follows,  never  before 
published  and  unchanged  except  tor  up- 
dating, forms  the  basis  for  this  public  report 
of  the  activities  of  the  San  Francisco  Redevel- 
opment Agency.  It  is  as  valid  now  as  it  was 
when  he  wrote  it. 

My  friend  lustin  Herman  was  a  talented 
man  driven  by  a  deep  devotion  to  San 
Francisco.  He  was  a  doer  of  the  word  He 
transformed  slums  into  permanent  things 
of  urban  beauty.  In  few  men  have  the  artist 
and  public  servant  combined  with  such 
dynamic  force  as  they  did  in  Justin. 
His  tame  is  cast  in  durable  urban  quahtv 
that  arose  where  squalor  once  held  swav 
[ustin's  greatest  tribute  is  mirrored  in  his 
works. 


loscph  L  Alioto 
Mayor  of  San  Francisco 
May  1.  1973 


Vaillaneourt  Fountain, 
lustin  Herman  l'laza 
Golden  Gateway 


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SAN  FRANCISCO  REDEVELOPMENT 


Periodic  assessment  by  the  general  public  of 
any  city  program  is  desirable.  Redevelop- 
ment in  San  Francisco  with  its  main  faceted 
and  complex  operations  is  no  exception, 
particularly  since  the  individual  citizen 
usually  has  exposure  to  only  one  or  two  oi 
its  operations.  Opportunity  to  obtain  a  broad 
overview  thus  becomes  essential  for  him. 
Likewise  the  big— highly  publicized  — 
redevelopment  issues  of  the  day  as  the} 
come  and  go  deny  perspective  to  the  process. 
The  project  slowdowns  anil  stoppages  over 
lawsuits  and  inadequate  Federal  funding, 
the  perils  of  the  auto  dismantles  relocation, 
the  protest  of  one  neighborhood  group 
against  the  carrying  out  of  the  approved 
redevelopment  plan  for  a  nearby  project,  the 
storming  of  Agency  meetings  by  neighbor- 
hood groups  over  their  own  disagreements, 
etc.,  obscure  redevelopment's  progress  and 
provide  the  usual  distortions  which  negative- 
incidents  have  over  positive  accomplish- 
ments. The  latter  includes  the  steady  place- 
ment of  residents  in  good  housing,  the 
commencement  of  construction,  the  dedi- 
cation and  uses  of  new  structures,  and  the 
provision  of  jobs  and  contracts  for  minor- 
ities Periodic  assessment  in  some  balanced 
fashion  is  needed  if  any  real  perspective 
is  to  be  reached. 

Where  has  redevelopment  been?  Where  is  it 
going'  Where  should  it  be  going'  Is  it  a 
method  for  the  reconstitution  of  urban  life 
that  has  served  its  purpose  and  should  be 
allowed  to  phase  itself  out  of  existence?  Or 
does  it  have  even  greater  meaning  and  use- 
fulness in  the  changes  and  development  of 
"the  managed  city"? 

It  is  to  renewal's  past  and  current  performance 
and  future  policies  that  this  report  addresses 
itself. 


Fountain  of  the  Four  Sumhi^ 
by  Francois  stahlv 

Svdncv  C.    Walton  Square 

Golden  Gateway 


Friendship  Village 
Western  Addition  A-2 


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I.  REDEVELOPMENT 
IN  ITS  MAIOR 
DELIVERY  STAGE 

In  the  redevelopment  of  a  city,  planning  is 
rarely  undertaken  except  with  the  intention 
and  result  of  putting  such  plans  to  work. 
The  plans  of  eight  San  Francisco  redevelop- 
ment areas  are  all  in  the  construction  or  in 
use  stage.  An  additional  project— in  China 
town  — has  just  been  funded 
Housing  for  people  of  a  wide  range  of  in- 
comes has  long  been  the  goal  in  renewal 
areas— housing  for  elderly  singles  and 
couples  of  modest  income.  Housing  for 
families  of  low-to-moderate  income  Housing 
for  moderate  income  families.  Housing  for 
families  who  can  afford  market  rate  housing. 
Rehabilitated  housing  for  all  incomes. 
Critics  proclaim  that  more  housing  has  been 
torn  down  than  is  being  built. The  simple 
fact  remains  that  in  a  built-up  city  the  worn- 
out  housing  must  first  be  removed  to  make- 
way  for  the  new.  Moreover,  with  the  increase 
in  renewal  accommodations  for  almost 
20,000  more  residents  than  were  originally 
housed,  such  criticism  cannot  be  taken 
seriously. 


lackie  Rnhinson 

Garden  Apartments 

Hunters  Point 


Loren  Miller  Homes 
Western  Addition  A  2 


I'rincc  Hall  Apartments 
Western  Addition  A-2 


The  Redevelopment  Agency,  producing  45 
percent  of  its  new  housing  for  people  of  low- 
to-moderate  incomes,  intends  to  pursue  its 
comprehensive  housing  program  which 
attends  to  the  needs  of  other  income  groups 
as  well. 

This  will  mean  continued  resistance  to 
those  who  throw  legal  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  redevelopment  progress,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  opponents  of  Western  Addition  Area  2 
and  Yerba  Buena  Center  developments.  It 
will  not  take  the  public  much  longer  to 
observe  that  such  "class  action"  law  suits 
have  mostly  slowed  down  the  housing 
process  and  extended  the  time  in  which 
households  of  low-to-moderate  income  have 
been  confined  to  substandard  housing  and 
denied  good  housing  opportunities. 

Out  of  the  redevelopment  process  has 
evolved  the  largest  volume  of  new  open 
space  for  enjoyment  by  citizens  of  San 
Francisco  that  has  been  created  in  this 
generation.  All  kinds  of  open  space.  For 
example,  miniparks  for  children  long  de- 
prived of  such  spaces  to  remove  the  curse 
of  areas  in  transition.  Sitting  and  strolling 
areas.  Plazas  for  public  assemblages  and 
events.  Neighborhood  gathering  places. 
Playgrounds.  Open  spaces  designed  into 
private  developments.  Sheltered  places  for 
the  elderly.  These  are  some  of  the  new  open 
spaces.  Other  existing  areas  have  been  en- 
hanced. More  is  on  the  way.  What  process 
in  San  Francisco  in  our  time  other  than 
redevelopment  can  show  such  additions  to 
our  open  space? 

Martin  Luther  King  Square 
Western  Addition  A-2 


Vista  Del  Monte 
Diamond  Heights 


Community  meeting  room, 
Thomas  Paine  Square 
Western  Addition  A-2 


Japanese  Cultural  and  Trade  Center 
Western  Addition  A-I 


12 


In  the  heated  battles  over  so  main  issues— 
not  involving  redevelopment— faced  by  the 
Unified  School  District  and  the  City  and 
C  ounty,  development  of  schools  in  renewal 
areas  bias  been  taken  for  granted  Western 
Addition  A-l  alone  accounts  for  four  new, 
extended  or  rehabilitated  schools  A  new 
elementary  school  is  programmed  for 
Western  Addition  A  2. The  Diamond 
Heights  Elementary  School  has  long  been  in 
use  and  the  new  McAteer  High  School  lias 
iiist  been  opened  in  the  area   I  he  South 
School  in  the  Hunters  Point  Project  is  Hear- 
ing construction  with  another  new  school 
programmed  anil  a  third  to  be  rehabilitated 
Four  child  care  centers  are  completed  or 
under  construction  at  Hunters  Point 
Another  was  reccnth  completed  in  Western 
Addition  A-2. 

How  would  San  Franciscans  generally— not 

to  mention  neighborhood  residents— do 
without  the  maior  medical  facilities  pro- 
\  ided  tor  through  the  redevelopment 
process-  The  Kaiser  Clinic,  with  its  500,000 
doctor-patient  visits  yearly.  The  expansions 
in  the  Mt.  Zion  complex.  The  Westside 
Public  Health  Center  The  planned  new 
California  College  of  Podiatric  Medicine  — 
all  in  the  Western  Addition. 

The  earlier  renewal  projects  have  their  shop- 
ping facilities  already  in  use;  the  later 
projects  have  them  under  development. 
In  some  areas  the  shopping  facilities  such  as 
those  at  Diamond  Heights  and  the  Golden 
Gateway  Center  are  the  key  commercial 
attractions  of  their  neighborhoods.  Others 
serve  both  old  and  new  renewal  areas. 
Big  shopping  malls  are  on  their  way  in 
Emharcadero  Center  and  in  the  Fillmore 
Center  Even  specialty  products  appropriate 
to  a  neighborhood  are  reaching  a  special 
clientele 


Friendship  Village 
Western  Addition  A  2 


1? 


Some  13  churches,  rehabilitated  and  new, 
are  to  be  built  or  have  been  built  in  renewal 
areas.  One  of  the  most  dramatic  of  these  is, 
of  course,  the  new  St.  Mary's  Cathedral. 
But  there  are  others  as  well,  such  as  the 
Unitarian  church  rehabilitation  and  exten- 
sion. And  the  exotic,  byzantine  St.  Nicholas 
Syrian  Antiochian  Orthodox  Church  in 
Diamond  Heights. 


St.  Nicholas  Syrian  Antiochian  Orthodox  Church,  interior 
Diamond  Heights 


St.  Paulus  Lutheran  Church 

to  be  retained. 

Western  Addition  A-2 


St.  Mary's  Cathedral 
Western  Addition  A-l 


First  Unitarian  Church,  extension 
Western  Addition  A-l 


St.  Mary's  Cathedral 
Western  Addition  A-l 


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Restorations,  rehabilitations  and  preserva- 
tions of  good  bousing  as  well  as  building  of 

commercial  structures  continue  quietly 
with  Redevelopment  Agency  assistance  and 
with  little  fanfare.  Eighteen  per  cent  of  the 
renewal  housing  to  be  delivered  to  San 
Franciscans  will  be  obtained  from  improve 
ment  of  existing  homes.  Many  of  these  are 
excellent  examples  of  Victorian  architecture 
which  link  us  with  the  past,  but  have  been 
saved  only  with  extraordinary  efforts. 


Award-winning  Victorian  restorations  in  Western 

Addition  A-2 
18 It  Sutter  Street 


1866  Huchanjn  Street 


910  Stciner  Street 


Embarcadcro  Center 


Powell  Street  Station,  Bay  Area  Rapid  Transit  (BART) 
Golden  Gateway,  above  parkins  and  Clay  Street  traffic 


Transportation,  traffic  and  parking  problems 
are  pragmatically  solved.  In  some  instances, 
the  City  beyond  project  boundaries  is  bene- 
fited by  the  improvement.  Vehicles  need  to 
be  provided  with  readily  accessible  parking 
facilities  if  central  city  congestion  is  to  be 
avoided.  The  use  of  linkages  to  the  Bay  Area 
Rapid  Transit  System,  as  in  the  Yerba  Buena 
Center  Mezzanine  or  the  new  Embarcadero 
Center  station,  illustrate  the  accommodation 
of  renewal  areas  to  the  BART  system  and 
the  accessibility  to  other  areas  by  people 
living  or  working  in  these  renewal  areas. 
There  is  much  fanfare  in  American  cities 
on  the  corrective  use  of  streets  by  prohibition 
of  motor  vehicles.  The  redevelopment  proc- 
ess, however,  makes  malls  and  plazas  above 
or  off  vehicular  courses  full-fledged  new 
developments  rather  than  limited  correc- 
tions. In  Yerba  Buena  Center  and  the 
Embarcadero  Center  shopping  malls,  the 
problem  of  conflict  between  pedestrian  and 
vehicles  will  be  solved  by  each  being  given 
its  own  area. 


Widening  of  Geary  Street, 
Western  Addition  A-l 


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Columns  with  Wedge    In  Willi  Gutmann  against  Securit) 
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nr  Liptun 
Golden  (  latcway 


Works  (it  .irt  abound  in  redevelopment 
areas  bv  deliberate  decision  and  not  by 
accident.  The  range  is  sufficient  to  please 
(or  to  displease!  >  varying  tastes  From  the 
now  classical  Hum  Moore  in  the  Golden 
Gateway  Center  to  the  contemporary  Willi 
Gutmann  in  the  Embarcadero  Center  or  the 
praised/condemned  new  fountain  by 
VaillancoLirtat  the  foot  of  Market  Street 
Pro\  ision  of  works  of  art  is  .1  requirement  of 
.ill  major  undertakings  in  redevelopment 
projects.  The  Redevelopment  Agcncv  todav 
is  setting  the  pace  for  the  Citj  in  regard  to 
other  public  buildings. 


Much  is  written  about  the  importance  of 
urban  design  and  various  concepts  or  guides 

which  ma\  be  used  to  achieve  good  urban 
design  The  Redevelopment  Agency  con- 
cerns itself  with  applied  urban  design  As 
distinguished  from  such  lucky  or  ameliora- 
tive illustrations  as  may  be  accomplished 
by  a  building  or  two  here  and  there,  it  has 
the  only  process  of  operations  on  a  lai 
enough  scale  to  make  maior  contributions 
in  this  Held  There  are  main  tine  office 
buildings  downtown  but  many  or  them 
neglect  the  sight  lines  to  the  Bay  or  do  not 
provide  compensatory  open  spaces  tor  enjoy- 
ment at  pedestrian  levels  as  do  the  buildings 
in  redevelopment  projects. 


Horse    bv  Marino  Mjrim 
1  Gateway 


M jntimc  Plarj 


Loren  Miller  Homes 
Western  Addition  A-2 


Prince  H.ill  Apartments  undo 
in  Addition 


Taxes  are  such  .1  tender  subject  to  San 
Francisco  citizens  and  property  owners  tli.it 
occasional  indulgence  in  fanciful  beliefs  as 
distinguished  from  facts  is  understandable. 

One  view  is  tli.it  redevelopment  takes 
property  off  the  tax  rolls  thereby  increasing 
the  taxes  in  non-redevelopment  areas. 
Persons  who  hold  this  view  forget  that  the 
Redevelopment  Agency  provides  payments 
or  credits  in  lieu  oi  taxes  and  that  although 
there  is  a  short  period  after  the  removal  of 
buildings  when  taxes  do  decline,  the  net 
cash  (low  to  the  Cit)   IiL.isur\  from  redevel- 
opment areas  is  a  substantial  phis  very 
quickly.  Computed  on  the  most  conservative 
basis  returns  are  already  up  by  $4,300,000 
(67%)  per  year  in  the  City  Treasurer  S  Ottice 
and  the  figure  is  on  its  way  to  an  increase 
of  more  than  S22,6O0,OO0  (354%)  per  year, 
despite  the  heaw  social-orientation  of  the 

Redevelopment  Agency's  program. 
Developments  such  as  the  Golden  Gateway, 
Diamond  Heights  and  Verba  Buena  Center, 
with  the  enormous  increases  the)  alone 
provide  in  tax  revenues  ineffect   support 
the  subsidized  bousing  that  redevelopment 
provides  for  low-to-moderate  income  fam- 
ilies m  other  areas  ot  the  City  particularly 
in  the  Western  Addition  and  Hunters  Point. 


Prince  H.ill  Apartments  completed 


25 


^Hl^^^- 

mm    _ 

-i 

7-   J  s«      -     " 

i  '  '   :.    .. 

^""""T  »s*5j 

'^^£yr... 

* 

i^5 
- 

Sell  I 

■F       a*il 

Chinese  pedestrian  bridge  over  Kearny  Street  to  Chinese 
Cultural  and  Trade  Center 

Chinese  bridge,  from  opposite  direction,  to  Portsmouth 
Square  and  Chinatown 


Several  years  ago  there  was  much  shallow 
talk  to  the  effect  that  redevelopment  is 
concerned  only  with  physical  improvements 
without  regard  to  social  needs.  Such  talk 
has  substantially  died  out  because  it  could 
not  be  supported  by  the  results  of  the  rede- 
velopment process,  fobs  and  paychecks  have 
been  consistently  regarded  in  redevelop- 
ment planning  to  be  as  important  as  physical 
structures.  In  fact,  the  kinds  of  physical 
structures  programmed  and  delivered  in  the 
redevelopment  process  are  intended  to  pro- 
vide these  employments  and  earnings.  In  so 
many  cases  these  efforts  have  been  tied  to 
compensatory  jobs  programs  such  as  that  of 
the  Hobday  Inn  of  the  Chinese  Cultural  and 
Trade  Center.  Because  people  cannot  live  by 
housing  alone,  the  Hunters  Point  residential 
development  is  to  be  supplemented  by  the 
neighboring  India  Basin  Industrial  Park. 
Years  before  there  were  so-called  Philadelphia 
or  San  Francisco  minority  employment  plans 
the  Redevelopment  Agency  was  setting  up 
its  own  system  in  residential  neighborhoods 
looking  to  the  employment  of  50  per  cent  of 
the  construction  staff  from  residents  of  the 
neighborhood.  Stretching  its  resources  to  the 
limit,  the  Redevelopment  Agency  has  main- 
tained training  programs  such  as  that  of  the 
unarmed  Security  Guards.  Within  the 
Agency's  own  ranks  of  professional  and 
administrative  employees,  approximately 
50  per  cent  are  minorities. 
Citizen  involvement  is  of  special  significance 
in  governmental  undertakings,  and  the  first 
major  example  of  how  this  might  be  success- 
fully accomplished  appeared  in  the  practical 
working  partnership  of  the  Bayview-Hunters 
Point  Joint  Housing  Committee  and  the 
Agency.  All  subsequent  projects  which  are 
residential  in  objective  have  working  partner- 
ships of  one  kind  or  another.  Although  not 
always  easy,  there  is  believed  to  be  increasing 
effectiveness  as  community  leadership  adds 
responsibility  as  well  as  guidance  to  its 
relationships  with  the  Redevelopment 
Agency. 


Another  view,  from  Portsmouth  Square 


Ridgeview  I 
Hunters  Point 


2S 


E.  EVALUATION 

The  question  may  well  be  raised  as  to  how 
such  benefits  to  the  City  and  its  citizens 
could  have  been  or  could  be  derived  except 
through  the  redevelopment  process. 
Would  desolate  Diamond  Heights  be  a  new 
residential  community? 
Would  the  First  Western  Addition  be  serving 
as  the  core  of  the  renewed  larger  Western 
Addition? 

How  would  the  San  Francisco  Produce 
Market  be  established  on  a  sound  economic 
and  healthful  basis? 
Would  the  downtown  core  have  been 
anchored  by  the  residential  complex  of  the 
Golden  Gateway  Center  and  its  companion 
commercial  job  resource,  the  Embarcadero 
Center,  without  redevelopment? 
Who  other  than  redevelopment  led  the 
way  in  demanding  that  Hunters  Point  be 
turned  into  an  attractive  residential  com- 
munity? 

To  whom  did  the  business  community  turn 
in  providing  jobs  as  a  companion  resource 
in  India  Basin? 

Would  the  City  be  on  its  way  to  solving  its 
convention  center  problem  in  a  superior 
fashion  without  the  solitary  advocacy  in  the 
early  days  by  the  Redevelopment  Agency 
against  a  city-wide  apathy? 
Would  provision  have  been  made  for  an 
increase  of  residents  in  this  built-up  City 
without  redevelopment?  And  would  there 
be  any  other  instrument  for  providing  hous- 
ing for  people  of  low-to-moderate  income  as 
effectively  as  redevelopment? 
The  Redevelopment  Agency  is  content  to 
abide  by  the  intelligent  citizen  evaluations 
of  such  questions. 


Western  Park  Apartments 
Western  Addition  A-l 


Ill   Rl  DEVI  L<  IPM1  '. 

AND  THL  URBAN  CONDITION 

But  redevelopment  is  so  much  a  part  of  the 
urban  life  that  it  is  caught  up  in  the  fears 
and  frustrations,  the  aspirations  and  ambi- 
tions, the  prejudices  and  priorities  inh<  n  nt 
in  urban  living.  These  are  not  only  local 
manifestations  but  appear  in  most  urban 
areas  of  the  countr) 

lust  as  there  are  similarities  of  problems  in 
urban  areas  throughout  the  country,  there 
are,  because  of  the  dependence  on  Federal 
policies,  programs  and  appropriations,  sim- 
ilar benefits  oi  even  the  evolution  of  new 
problems 

For  example,  the  criticism  that  urban 
renewal  does  not  provide  enough  bousing 
tor  people  ot  low -to -moderate  income  is  not 
meaningful  unless  it  is  recognized  that  the 
renewal  program  was  1 1  years  old  before 
there  were  laws  and  appropriations  to  pro- 
vide the  necessary  subsidies  tor  such  hous 
ing.  Even  with  these,  the  current  delivery 
system,  erratically  dependent  upon  Congres- 
sional and  HUD  actions  each  year  tor  financ- 
ing housing  for  low-to-moderate  income 
persons  is  clearly  inadequate.  Housing,  being 
a  large  user  of  capital,  cannot  he  produced 
without  regard  to  the  national  fiscal  policies. 
But  until  housing  production  is  made  a  more 
weighted  goal,  we  will  continue  to  have 
trouble  with  housing  deficiencies  in  our 
cities— redevelopment  or  not. 
Planning  is  a  critical  process  in  any  urban 
development.  Notwithstanding  such  import 
ance,  there  is  a  strong  tendency  to  postpone 
essential  actions  by  the  substitution  of  plan- 
ning processes  that  have  no  clear  commit- 
ment to  action.  Planning  thus  is  relatively 
inexpensive  and  placates  those  who  are  con 
cemed  that  something  really  ought  to  he- 
done  In  distinction,  however,  redevelop 
ment,  which  is  highly  dependent  upon  plan- 
ning, never  enters  that  process  w  ithout  the 
expectation  of  turning  that  planning  into  the 
realization  of  its  goals.  Thus,  when  the  com- 
munity  begins  to  realize  that  planning  alone 
will  not  solve  the  problems  of  such  areas  .is 
the  Northern  Waterfront,  the  Mission  Dis- 
trict, the  Central  City  and  others,  it  may 
decide  that  the  planning  inherent  in  the 
redevelopment  process  is  w  hat  is  really 
needed. 


Golden  Gate  Child  i  are  Center,  Thomas  Paine  Square 
Western  Addition 


A  myopic  view  ot  the  uses  of  redevelopment 

is  that  it  should  he  used  tor  little  else  than 
pun  ision  ot  housing  foi  persons  ol  lo. 
moderate  income  It  one  were  to  accept  the 
idea  that  the  pro\  ision  ot  housing  In  eco 
nomic  land  social)  categories  is  good  public 
policy  tor  most  households,  then  this  (unc- 
tion ought  to  he  assigned  to  the  Housing 
Authority.  It,  however,  one  adheres  to  a  larger 
view  that  housing  is  onl)  one  component  in 
the  qualm  ot  the  good  urban  lite  and  that 
other  critical  components  are  job  resources 
educational  and  cultural  facilities,  recreation 
opportunities,  health  care,  etc.,  etc  ,  it  would 
be  .1  short-changing  of  the  citizenry  to  eon 
tine  redevelopment  to  the  limited  objective 
of  housing. 

There  has  already  been  reference  to  the 

importance  ot  citizen  involvement  by  neigh- 
borhoods m  governmental  processes  One 
can  appreciate  the  benefits  without  going 
overboard.  We  cannot  long  live  with  neigh- 
borhood self-determination  that  disregards 
either  the  professional  or  technical  contribu- 
tions ot  specialists  in  government  or  the 
needs  of  the  total  eitv  No  city  can  long  exist 
if  its  neighborhoods  are  in  effect  so  inde- 
pendent that  they  thumb  their  noses  at  all 
other  neighborhoods  ot  the  city  and  their 
needs. 

Finally,  our  country  is  in  such  a  difficult 
transitional  stage  on  funding  urban  renewal 
improvements  or  even  funding  ongoing 
urban  sen  ice  programs  that  it  is  difficult  to 
foresee  the  exact  form  in  which  a  more 
rational  treatment  with  assured  resources 
can  take  place.  The  present  redevelopment 
projects  live  from  hand  to  mouth.  A  dispute 
runs  on  as  to  whether  they  should  be  funded 
by  special  revenue  sharing  or  categorical 
grants,  or  subject  to  more  or  less  Federal  con- 
trol What  makes  these  arguments  more 
difficult  ot  resolution  is  the  tact  that  bvand 
large  in  recent  years  we  have  been  dealing 
with  more  restricted  funding  than  in  the 
past  federal  versus  local  control  must 
become  an  issue  secondary  to  the  question 
of  how  much  federal  funding.  At  time  of 
this  publication  the  answer  to  such  questions 
is  not  available. 


IV.  CITY  MANAGEMENT 

One  feature  is  clear  in  urban  life:  Cities  are 
beginning  to  take  a  stronger  grip  on  the 
direction  of  their  development.  Cities  are 
also  beginning  to  have  a  better  understanding 
of  the  relationships  and  integration  of  various 
programs  and  their  funding.  The  laissez-faire 
period  of  city  life  is  declining  and  should 
decline.  The  management  of  the  basic  direc- 
tions of  city  life  is  increasingly  recognized 
as  an  essential  step  in  city  management. 
This  does  not  forego  the  benefits  of  individ- 
ual enterprise,  initiative  and  ingenuity  On 
a  public  foundation,  with  positive  commit- 
ments to  the  encouragement  of  private 
actions,  city  life  can  become  increasingly 
attractive. 

In  the  redevelopment  process  there  is  not 
only  a  plan.  There  is  also  a  program  to  en- 
courage entrepreneurs  to  try  their  skills  and 
risk  their  capital.  Redevelopment  does  not 
wait  until  someone  wants  to  do  something; 
it  gets  out  and  finds  that  someone  and  helps 
him  accomplish  what  ought  to  be  done. 
Thus,  redevelopment  is  a  tool  of  urban  man- 
agement and  a  sophisticated  city  will  use  it. 


Exhibit  Hall  Model 
Yerha  Buena  Center 


Clementina  Towers 
Yerha  Buena  Center 


Blighted  Butchertown 
area  will  be  new  India  Basin 
Industrial  Park 


lm--' 


(Above  I 

Banneket  Homes 
Western  Addition  A-2 

(Below  l 

Martin  Luthei  King  Square 

Western  Addition  A-2 


i  Above  > 

Friendship  Village 
Western  Addition  A-2 

(Below) 

Thomas  Paine  Square 

Western  Addition  A-2 


V.  THE  NEED 

FOR  COMPREHENSIVE 

COMMUNITY  DEVELOPMENT 

At  the  national  level,  then.-  is  recognition  of 
the  ineffectiveness  and  inefficiency  of  1 1 ) 
the  separate  administration  <>t  related  cate- 
gorical programs,  (2)  the  vast  amount  of  red 
tape  currently  required  in  financing  urban 
improvements,  ami  (3)  attempts  to  develop 
local  goals  and  policies  at  the  Federal  level. 
Two  examples  illustrate  this  national  recog 
ration.  First  is  the  recent  reorganization  of 
the  Department  of  Housing  and  Urhan 
Development  to  place  urhan  renewal,  model 
cities,  water  and  sewer  grants,  rehabilitation 
loans,  neighborhood  facilities,  open  space, 
and  public  facility  loans  under  the  sin.de 
direction  of  one  administrator  dealing  with 
community  development.  The  second 
example  is  the  proposed  legislation  for  com- 
munity development  as  identified  in  the 
President's  budget  submitted  to  Congress  on 
lanuarv  29, 1971,  which  would  consolidate 
the  financing  of  comprehensive  community 
development  programs  to  cover  the  above 
elements. 

San  Francisco  needs  a  pohev  which  addresses 
itself  to  a  comprehensive  and  balanced  pro- 
gram for  community'  development  on  a  city- 
wide  basis.  It  is  important  that  the  City  is 
now  organizing  itself  to  coordinate  the 
various  elements  of  a  community  develop- 
ment program. 

The  San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency 
stands  ready  and  able  to  play  an  important 
role  in  that  program. 


Golden  Gateway 


(Above) 

Marcus  Garvey  Square 

Western  Addition  A-2 

(Below) 

Diamond  View  Apartments 

Diamond  Heights 


HOUSING  COMPLETED 
IN  SAN  FRANCISCO 
REDEVELOPMENT  AREAS 

May  1,1973 


Subsidized 
Units" 

Unsubsidized 

Units"" 

Total  Dwelling 
Units 

New  Construction 
Inspection/Rehabilitation 

2,372 
318 

3,260 
458 

5,632 
776 

TOTAL 

2,690 

3,718 

6,408 

"Financed  under  one  of  the  following,  Federal  housing  assistance  programs: 
Section  202,  Section  221(d)(3),  Section  236,  Section  312,  Federal  Rent  Supplements,  or  Public  Housing 
Assistance. 
'""Financed  without  assistance  through  the  Federal  Housing  Administration  or  conventional  lending  insti- 
tutions. 


NEW  UNSUBSIDIZED  HOUSING  COMPLETED 


Development 


Renewal 
Area 


Single-family  Homes 

Duplexes 

Village  Square 

Cape  Diamond  Apartments 

Red  Rock  Hill 

The  Sequoias 

Cathedral  Hill  South 

Cathedral  Hill  East 

Cathedral  Hill  West 

Martin  Luther  Tower 

Laguna  O'Farrell  Apartments 

The  Carillon 

Laguna  Heights 

Golden  Gateway  Townhouses 

Wm.  Heath  Davis  House 

Macondray  House 

Buckelew  House 

Richard  Henry  Dana  House 

Single-family  units 

TOTAL 


DH 

DH 

DH 

DH 

DH 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

GG 

GG 

GG 

GG 

GG 

WA-2 


Total 
Units 


492 

60 

154 

30 

104 

300 

108 

138 

169 

124 

150 

103 

72 

58 

440 

178 

178 

400 

2 

3,260 


30 


NEW  SUBSIDIZED  HOUSING  COMPLETED 


Development 


Rene  wul 
Area 


Total 
Units 


Thomas  Paine  Square 

Loren  Miller  Homes 

Marcus  Garvey  Square 

Prince  Hall  Apartments 

Friendship  Village  I 

Friendship  Village  II 

Martin  Luther  King  Square 

Banneker  Homes 

lackie  Robinson  Garden  Apartments 

Ridgeview  Terrace 

Diamond  View  Apartments 

Vista  Del  Monte 

Glen  ridge 

Clementina  Towers 

Western  Park  Apartments 

Midtown  Park 

[ones  Memorial  Homes 

St.  Francis  Square 


WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

HP 

HP 

DH 

DH 

DH 

YBC 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 

WA-1 


TOTAL 


Royal  Adah  Arms 

Frederick  Douglas  Haynes  Gardens 

El  Bethel  Arms 

[ones  Memorial  Homes 

Unity  Peace  and  Freedom  Terrace 

Salvation  Armv  Apartments 

Freedom  West  I 


WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

HP 

YBC 

WA-2 


TOTAL 


Diamond  Heights  Village 
Single-family  Homes 
Alpha  Homes 
BRB  Homes 

Yatsu  Nami  Apartments 
Single  Family  Units 
Sakura  Apartments 
Golden  Gateway,  Phase  II-A 

TOTAL 


DH 

DH 

DH 

DH 

WA-2 

WA-2 

WA-2 

GG 


98 

107 

101 

92 

68 

90 

110 

108 

130 

101 

58 

104 

275 

276 

183 

140 

32 

299 


2,372 


NEW  SUBSIDIZED  HOUSING  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION 


142 
104 
255 
1  55 

94 
258 

192 


1.200 


NEW  UNSUBSIDIZED  HOUSING  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION 


396 
20 
51 
21 
36 
1 
58 

518 

1,101 


i  \bove) 

Hayraan  Homo 
Diamond  Heights 

(Below) 

lackie  Robinson  Garden  Apartments 

Hunters  Point 


A~r. 


\ 


!     I 


•V 


From  the  Members  (it 

the  San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency 

A  tew  tacts  illustrate  the  importance  of 

reiiew.il  m  San  Francisco: 

»S192  million  in  federal  renewal  grants  have 

been  made  to  San  Francisco  Another  $70 
million  is  needed  to  complete  the  existing 
program. 
x  San  Francisco's  redevelopment  program 
includes  construction  of  14.000  new 
homes  and  the  inspection,  and  where 
nccessarv,  the  rehabilitation  of  2800  more 
w  At  the  beginning  of  1973.  nearly  6,000  new 

housing  units  had  been  completed 
x  Last  year,  housing  construction  reached 
the  highest  level  in  the  Agencw  s  historv: 
1 ,600  new  units  were  under  construction 
at  the  year's  end  Based  on  preliminary 
information,  it  appears  that  halt  ot  all  of 
the  19^2  housing  starts  in  the  City  were  in 
redevelopment  areas 
x  Local  propertv  taxes  generated  in  renewal 
areas  reached  S10.6  million  in  the  City  in 
fiscal  1972-73.  Prior  to  redevelopment,  the 
figure  was  S6.3  million,  when  adjusted  to 
the  current  tax  rate.  And  when  completed, 
the  eight  redevelopment  areas  will  produce 
S28.9  million  annually  in  property  tax 
revenues. 
x  S2^6  million  in  privately-financed  con- 
struction has  been  completed  in  our 
renewal  areas.  Another  S 120  million  in 
private  construction  is  underway.  Still 
another  S800  million  is  scheduled.  And 
further,  millions  more  have  been  spent  or 
are  scheduled  for  public  works,  such  as 
parks  and  schools. 
Like  any  other  city,  San  Francisco  must 
respond  to  changing  and  extremely  varied 
needs.  In  the  past,  its  renewal  program  has 
proven  an  effective  way  to  match  the  Cit\  s 
resources  to  these  needs.  In  the  future,  it 
should  prove  even  more  effective. 


Mrs  Elouise  Westbrook,  chairman  or  the  Bayview 
Hunters  Point  Joint  Housing  Committc<    u  redevelopment 
meeting  in  Hunters  Point 


From  right— Chairman  Walter  F  Kaplan  Vice  chairman 
Francis  I  Solvin,  loc  \loslc\    Stanlcv  E   kliM.il 


Redevelopmc  Members  at  Hunters  Point  Open 

House   From  Lett— lames  A  Silva,  )oe  Mosley,  Walter  F 
Kaplan 

Robert  L  Rumsey,  Executive  Director 
San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agcnc) 


33 


Cover  Photo:  Gene  Wright 
Community  Meeting  Room 

Thomas  Paine  Square,  Page  10 
Golden  Gate  Child  Care  Center  Photo, Page  13— 

Karl  H.  Riek 
St.  Paulus  Lutheran  Church,  Page  14— Bob  Hollingsworth 
St.  Mary's  Cathedral  Photo,  Page  15— Morley  Baer 
Loren  Miller  Homes  Photos,  Page  8— Robert  A.  Isaacs 
Yerba  Buena  Center  Model,  Page  4 
Western  Park  Apartments  Photo,  Page  26— 

Jeremiah  O.  Bragstad 

All  Other  Photos— Joshua  Freiwald 

San  Francisco  Redevelopment  Agency 

P.  O.  Box  646 

San  Francisco,  California  94101 

The  preparation  of  this  report  was  financed  in  part 
through  Federal  advances,  loans  and  grants  from  the 
Department  of  Housing  and  Urban  Development  under 
the  provisions  of  Title  I  of  the  Housing  Act  of  1949, 
as  amended 

34 


f 

1 


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